This invention relates to a photosensitive resin of high solubility in water and high sensitivity and to a method for the manufacture of this resin.
Photosensitive resins have been used as raw materials for printing plates, as photoresists for photo etching and photomilling operations and as photosensitive vehicles for paints and printing inks. In recent years, studies have been conducted on the use of these resins for the immobilization of enzymes.
The photosensitive resins which have been known are those having azide group, cinnamoyl group, acryloyl group, etc. as their photosensitive residues. As immobilizing carriers for enzymes, however, these conventional photosensitive resins are not considered to be satisfactory because they have serious problems such as the adverse effects they bring about on enzymes and the solubility they exhibit in water.
As a photosensitive high-molecular compound suitable for such new uses, the inventors formerly synthesized polymers possessing a styrylpyridinium group by the reaction of styrylpyridiniums with the polymer of 2-chloroethyl vinyl ether and demonstrated this polymer to be suitable for the photo-immobilization of enzymes [Ichimura and Watanabe: Collection of Manuscripts II for the 37th Spring Annual Meeting of the Japan Chemical Society, page 1133 (1978) and Chemistry Letters, page 1289 (1978)].
The inventors continued an advanced study with a view to further improving the photosensitivity of this polymer. As a result, they have ascertained that the desired improvement is attained by causing a polyvinyl alcohol to incorporate therein a styrylpyridinium group. The present invention has issued from this knowledge.
An object of this invention is to provide a novel photosensitive resin which possesses high solubility in water and high sensitivity and, therefore, is suitable as a photoresist and a photosensitive vehicle and also as an immobilizing carrier for enzymes.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method for the manufacture of the novel photosensitive resin described above.